Recently I had attended a mixed media workshop conducted by Bipasha here in Dubai. To be honest, I went in a bit unsure of what I thought about mixed media and came out with a whole new perspective. It turned out to be much simpler than I thought it was. What I love about the art of mixed media is that you got to follow no rules!! You can do what your heart desires.. splash and play around with colors, basically unleash your creativity and be amazed with what you come up with. You have the freedom to combine a lot of different media however you like and come up with something new each time you create. It is freaking awesome! I need to give a big shoutout to Bipasha who introduced me to this lovely world of mixed media and also to Neelu from PPS who conducted this workshop in Dubai. It just opened new doors for me.

Today, I have my very first mixed media project to share with you guys.

I began with this oval artist’s canvas as my base. I mod-podged some white lace all over the canvas for some texture and evenly smeared white gesso all over it. This lace with leaves all over is one of my favorite which I have been hoarding for years. Finally I got some use of it.

Like I said there are no rules in mixed media so I went ahead and placed a lot of flowers and other elements all around. Since I did not have a lot of charms with me I went ahead and used some potpourri I had lying around. Some of them were broken jewelry pieces that I had collected over the years.

This is the other end of the canvas. Its a blend of orange and yellow mists and watercolors. I also added some pearls and rhinestones from Pie Lane.

You can see that I have used more than one color mediums on this project. I’ve used mists, watercolors and white gesso. The possibilities are endless!!

Overall, I am very happy with the outcome. To be honest, I was a bit nervous as well playing around with the colors I chose. I thought a tinge of black would have probably highlighted my elements even better but chose to stop here.

I decided to gift this piece to a dear friend who is expecting a new member into their family soon. If you notice, I decided to keep the center of the canvas slightly blank so my friend could put a family picture there if she wanted.

That is all from me today! Do leave in the comments below of what you think of my first attempt at mixed media. I would love to know what you think about it and also suggest me how I could get better at it.

I’ve seen some really pretty vellum flower party lights in Gifts and Craft shops here in Dubai and they’ve always caught my fancy. It is only when I made one myself did I realize how easy it was to put one together.

So let us get on with it.!

To begin with, you need some wire lights. I went for these really thin ones I got from a craft shop. you could use any type.Apart from that you need some Vellum, a ball tool to make flowers, Crop-a-dile and some glue. That is it!! Can you believe it?

Start off by cutting out some flowers in four different sizes. I used my Silhouette Cameo. You could use flower punches in 4 different sizes or simply cut using scissors.Use a ball stylus tool to gently mold and form a cup shape to each petal. If you don’t have one, you can use the rounded back of a paintbrush.Glue them together. I used the Glossy accent so that it dries clear and it does not see though the vellum when lit up.

Now push the front end of the bulb though the punched hole. In this case, the size of the hole was perfect for bulbs to sit in snugly.Finish up by covering all the bulbs with the vellum flower.Voila! You are done! How easy was that?!It looks so pretty even in the daylight that it works as a great home decor accessory.I urge you to try it out! I am sure you will love it!!

Tell me if you have ever tried one of these yourself. If yes, then I would love it see it. Share it with me on my Facebook, Instagram or Twitter account.

I always end up not having a tag or fishing through my box of cards looking for one to maybe send a quick thank-you or Birthday note along with a gift or parcel that I am sending to my family or friends. And what is better than making one by yourself for your loved ones and make them feel special.

So, what I made today are seven tags each representing each color of the rainbow. Each tag is unique in its own way. For the base of each tag I have used pattern papers from the paper pad, Lemon Lush from Studio Calico. It is a perfect 6×6 paper pad for this Rainbow challenge.

The first tag is fairly simple. I cut out the sentiment ‘Love’ and the window used in the background using my Silhouette Cameo. I stuck a flower sticker in the background and added some wood veneers (colored them with some violet ink) as embellishment. As simple as that.

This second one is also a clean and a simple tag. Yes, that gorgeous butterfly is cut using my Silhouette Cameo. I used my distress marker and added some stokes on the butterfly cut out to add some depth.

What I love most about this tag, apart from the flutter, is the sentiment from my Lawn Fawn Breakfast stamp set.

Needless to say, this third tag is my favorite form the lot. I distressed the pattern paper with distress inks, later stamped a background stamp with some blue ink. The doily used in the background is Cameo cut.I also went ahead and spritzed some blue glitter mist on the butterfly wood veneer before I stamped the sentiment on top.

I decided to not touch up this beautiful pattern paper with water color effects used in the background of this fourth tag.

I used some stickers and some other embellishments and kept it simple.

A lot of thought and effort went behind this yellow tag. I decided I wanted to use my rose stamp from Miss Caroline Howdy Doody Baby stamp set to go with those leaves on the pattern paper. Just in case you are wondering what pattern paper is this..

It is this from the same Paper Pad. I just erased out the lemon images by distressing the pattern paper with some Mustard Seed distress ink.

The sentiment used is from the ‘The Sweetest Thing collection’ from My Mind’s Eye.

Orange reminds me of the Sun and so I added some sunrays to go behind the beautiful bloom. I spritzed the flower with some water after I colored it with some distress markers.

This last lacy creation is again one of my favorite from the lot. I did some distressing on this one too.

As for the pretty Hero Arts butterfly, I stamped it with my Hero Arts Shadow Ink in Pale Tomato. I again stamped the rubber stamp over it with some Versamark ink and clear embossed it. You need no Stamp-a-ma-jig for it. Do leave a comment in the comment section below if you need a quick tutorial on how to restamp over an already stamped image without making any error.

So last month, my darling little daughter turned 2. (Phew! I am still in shock!) She has grown up faster than I can imagine! It has been a roller coaster ride!! But the best part of being a parent in these 2 years is waking up to Krisha’s smile and snuggles every morning and witnessing the many milestones she has achieved in these two years. I simply love her to bits!!

Anyway, I had an amazing time organizing a small birthday party even though in a very short time. To be honest, I had no intentions of throwing her one because I wasn’t sure if she would really enjoy it. Krisha wasn’t very social and did not really like being around a lot of people. But lately, I noticed she was mingling better with the other kids and was getting better at her social skills. So it was only 2 weeks before her birthday did I decide to arrange a little birthday party. I wanted to make it really special for my little girl.

It was a must for me to have almost everything at this party to be handmade (All thanks to Pinterest for the last minute ideas)!!. It took me days of sleepless nights but was worth it all!

I decided to go with Owl as a theme because just like her mum she loves them too.

I started off making handmade invites first.

The color scheme chosen were pink, blue and gold/kraft. So, I cut and colored the birthday banner to go with the theme.

The next in line was to finish the party favors.These personalized frames were made for all the little guests coming for the birthday party.I also added some candies and other goodies into their goody bags.Here is how I finished packing each one of them, in these cute paper bags altered to look like an owl.I bought some some lanterns and altered them as well to go with the theme.

Here is a look at one of them.I painted it gold and gave it some eyes and wings.Here is a full view of her birthday table.

Here is the second lantern I altered.

This altered letter K was my favorite piece on the table.I baked some chocolate walnut cookies and decorated it with chocolate chips and jelly beansI made some cone cakes topped with some whipped cream and sprinkles. As for snacks, the menu included wholewheat pizzas, spring rolls and corn cheese bites.

And finally here is the my birthday girl gorging on to some pizzas!!

Dear Krisha,

When you grow up and if you ever read this, I want you to know that I love you with all that I am and with all that I have!! Your ‘dada’ and I love you beyond measure!!

I highly doubt you will remember anything about this day but I am glad I am able to document your second birthday here as the Internet is forever!!

God Bless you!! May you grow up to be a wonderful girl and I am sure happiness and success will follow you.